A delegation from Sweden’s Justice Ministry will be visiting Turkey on 5-6 October to discuss Turkey’s extradition requests, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ told reporters.
Turkey expects Sweden and Finland to extradite supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen as a part of an agreement for the two countries’ bids to join NATO, Bozdağ said.
“I know that a delegation from our Foreign Ministry will also go to Finland for talks. Our request for extradition pertains to those who have investigations and court proceedings in progress,” the minister said.
“We reviewed the negotiations, everything is going well,” Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency cited Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde as saying. “We abide by the agreement.”
Following Russia’s invasion to Ukraine on 28 February, Sweden and Finland moved to abandon neutrality and join the military alliance. While most of NATO member states were supportive, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said it would be “a mistake” to welcome the two countries to NATO, accusing them of supporting terrorism.
Sweden’s prime minister in response gave assurances that Sweden was “not a safe haven for terrorists”, a day before the three countries signed a memorandum during a NATO summit in in Madrid.
NATO secretary Jens Stoltenberg announced on 28 June that NATO had reached an agreement that paved the way for the accession.
As soon as Turkey lifted its veto, Swedish authorities extradited four political dissidents to Turkey.
Some Swedish journalists and politicians said the new terror law threatened democracy in the country, calling the NATO agreement a “black day” for Sweden.
NATO’s 30 members have been ratifying their entry since accession protocols were signed in July. With Slovakia’s vote in favour, only Hungary and Turkey remain to approve the expansion.
